Bruise
by The Bound Deity
Summary: When Grell mysteriously disappears for a month, Sebastian daren't admit it, but he misses the melodramatic reaper. Rated T for implied rape. Implied Grell/Will and Grell/Sebastian.
1. That Butler, Protective

Hey! *waves* This was based on an RP between myself (as Sebastian) and my friend (as Grell). If anyone takes offense at Sebby being a smidge OOC, my apologies. *bows* I tried to make it seem like he was gradually working up to the ending (No spoilers from me! XD ) but hey *shrug*. This is my first Kuro fic. 8D

Please enjoy, 'Bruise'!

* * *

Sebastian walked down the street with a frown. Lately, he'd been lacking one bright red fangirl. It was almost as if Grell had disappeared off the face of the planet. Usually, Sebastian couldn't so much as blink without Grell appearing at his side and attempting to kiss him, screeching some nonsense about wanting to have his babies. But over the past month, the shinigami hadn't put in a single appearance. He wouldn't admit it out loud, but he _missed _the gender-confused red-head.

As Sebastian passed the next alley, he saw a flash of red amongst the darkness from the corner of his eye._ 'Is that…Grell?' _Ignoring the phrase, 'curiosity killed the cat', he walked down the alley.

His suspicions were correct. Curled up in a ball in the very bottom of the alley was Grell Sutcliff. He looked like he hadn't had a hot meal or bath in weeks. His eyes were closed as Sebastian approached.

"Grell?"

The red-head opened his eyes slowly and looked up at Sebastian. "S-sebby?"

Now that the butler had a clear look at Grell's face, he was shocked, to say the least. The right side of his face was largely dominated by a large purple bruise and he had various other scratches and bruises on his face, hands and neck.

What happened?"

The reaper looked away. "Nothing…" he mumbled.

Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "That bruise hardly looks like nothing."

Grell stuttered, "T-there isn't a bruise! You're seeing things!" and nodded furiously.

The demon sighed. "Are you going to tell me the truth or do I have to force it out of you?"

Grell fidgeted slightly. "Nu! Nothing to force out! No bruise!"

"I'll ask again. What happened?" Sebastian's patience was beginning to fray. He didn't know why but he didn't like seeing the shinigami hurt.

"Nothing! Your eyes must be playing up!" Grell insisted.

"I assure you, Grell, my eyesight is fine. Now tell me how you got that bruise."

Grell fidgeted again. "Erm…I tripped?"

Sebastian shook his head. "Your injuries are not consistent with a fall. Now tell me what happened!"

Grell lurched to his feet and bolted for the alley mouth. He only made it a short distance before Sebastian grabbed his arm and pinned him to the wall. His eyes began to glow ominously.

"Tell me what happened, Grell!"

The shinigami was silent. What little remained of Sebastian's patience flew out the window. His eyes glowed brighter still. He grabbed the reaper by his collar and growled, "Tell me!"

Grell whimpered in response.

"Tell me what happened, Grell!" Sebastian roared.

Grell visibly flinched. "S-sebby…you're scaring me…" he whimpered.

"Tell me what happened then!" the demon bellowed.

Grell only whined and muttered something too quiet for even Sebastian to hear.

"Who did this to you?" Sebastian grabbed Grell's collar again.

"…Will…"

Grell whimpered. "…you're scaring me..."

Sebastian tightened his grip on Grell's collar. "What did he do?" His voice had a malevolent edge to it.

"…Nothing much…you fancy letting go..?" Grell trailed off.

"Not until you tell me _exactly _what he did!" Sebastian knew Grell was lying through his teeth.

Grell sniffled. "Work it out…"

Sebastian turned the facts over in his mind. Will, Grell, bruises, Grell avoiding him, hiding. Only one word resounded through his mind.

"So you've worked it out, demon? I really must thank you for finding my thing for me."

William stood in the alley mouth. Sebastian glared maliciously at him. That _bastard _had dared hurt _his _Grell. Wait, his?

Sebastian shook his head. He'd deal with his confusing thoughts later. He flew at Will with such ferocity that the elder reaper broke through several walls. Sebastian darted through the shinigami-shaped hole after him.

Grell sniffled. While he was happy to have two gorgeous men fighting over him, his body couldn't cope without food any longer. The last things he heard before unconsciousness invaded his mind were the sounds of his demon fighting for him.

Sebastian glared malevolently at the reaper balanced on the wall above him. William was bleeding heavily from several wounds caused by Sebastian's cutlery. He heard Grell slump heavily to the ground on the other side of the wall, and a few seconds later, three thumps almost-identical to each other. Thompson, Timber and Canterbury stood at his side. He looked to Timber, whose eyes seemed to say, _'We'll deal with him.'_ Sebastian nodded his thanks and went back to Grell.

The shinigami stirred feebly in Sebastian's arms.

"Come on, Grell, you must wake up." The butler urged.

The redhead's eyes opened slowly. "S-sebby?"

Sebastian smirked. "William cannot hurt you anymore."

This was evidently the wrong thing to say, for Grell shot out of his arms and screeched, "What? What did you do to him?"

Sebastian told him what had happened whilst he'd been unconscious and asked if he was alright.

"No, I'm not! You hurt Will!" Grell stomped his foot.

"But that man, if you can call him that, hurt you." Sebastian reasoned.

"Leave him alone!" Grell stomped his foot again.

Will's agonized screaming filled the silence. Sebastian smirked.

"It would seem the triplets are dealing the final blows."

"Final? FINAL?" Grell shrieked.

Sebastian merely nodded. Grell looked shocked, and then collapsed on the ground sobbing.

"He cannot hurt you anymore. It will all be fine." Sebastian attempted to comfort the stricken reaper by placing a hand on his shoulder. Grell slapped his hand away viciously.

"No, it won't! You killed my Will! He sobbed.

Sebastian was feeling rather peculiar. Almost as if he wanted to tear William to shreds. He couldn't be…_jealous _of William, could he?

By now, Grell was crying his eyes out.

"Look at me, Grell. If William was dead, his blood would be upon my person, no? He'll be fine; he's just got a few broken bones. I can hear his breathing."

Grell looked at him suspiciously. "You could've throttled him…"

Sebastian shook his head and held his hands out, palms up. "If I had strangled him, there would be a trace on my gloves."

Grell sniffled.

"If I may ask, why did William…do that to you?" Sebastian asked.

Grell shook his head and mumbled, "Dun wanna talk 'bout it…"

Sebastian nodded understandingly. "You shouldn't return to the HQ. You certainly don't have to. You have an ample excuse."

"Yeah, I do…" Grell trailed off.

"You could stay elsewhere."

"Like where..?"

The next words out of Sebastian's mouth shocked the dark butler to his core.

"Like with me, at the Phantomhive estate."

Grell's head shot up with surprise. He searched Sebastian's eyes for any hint of a joke, but was only met by honesty and seriousness. Sebastian was shocked too. '_Why am I offering Grell somewhere to stay?'_

"Somehow I don't think the Young Master would approve…" Grell twirled a lock of his hair around his finger.

'_I know he wouldn't!' _Sebastian's thoughts argued, but what he said was entirely different.

"The Young Master need not know."

'_What the hell am I saying?' _Sebastian internally screamed at himself.

"But he would find me…then order you to throw me out…" Grell ran a hand through his hair.

Sebastian smirked and shook his head lightly. "Not if you stay within the servant's quarters. Bocchan rarely sets foot there."

'_Oh, I give up. I might as well go along with whatever it is I'm doing.' _The last remaining rational part of Sebastian's mind shut down.

Grell didn't know what to say, so he sniffled as a response. Sebastian took his sniffle as an agreement, picked the death god up bridal-style and raced off to the Phantomhive estate. Grell blushed at the sudden closeness between them. He snuggled to the demon butler's chest.

Sebastian set the shinigami down on the bed. Grell fiddled with the skull beads on his glasses. There was a burning question he just had to ask.

"Um…Sebby? W-why did you attack Will?"

The shinigami fidgeted on the bed. Sebastian was dumbstruck. _'Why did I save Grell?'_ A small part of him already knew, but he didn't want to accept it.

"Because…I didn't like seeing you hurt…"

It wasn't technically a lie, just a small part of the whole truth.

"But, why Sebby? It's not like it usually bothers you…" Grell sighed.

With that statement, it all clicked into place. Why he'd missed Grell, why he'd beaten William to a pulp, why he had been acting so irrationally around Grell, all of it.

"Because I…"

"Because you what, Sebby?" Grell was impatiently tapping his foot on the floor.

"…love you…"

* * *

*is shot for sappy ending* I SAID HE MIGHT BE A BIT OOC! Please R'n'R?


	2. That Butler, Comforting

**I apologize for the long wait, but I do have a good reason. I lost all my inspiration for this story and I honestly considered deleting it all, but the lovely reviews everyone has given the first chapter alone made me reconsider. This chapter is longer and, personally, I think it is better. There is a greater variety of characters and the inclusion of reapers other than Grell. ^^ **

* * *

Grell sang quietly to himself as he skipped around the room. It had being one month since his Sebas-chan had finally admitted how he felt.  
_'Because I…love you.'_  
The door slammed open. "You know, Sebby, you should really be careful. I don't want Will to find out you're here." Grell spun round and came face-to-face with William T. Spears.  
"Ah, um…Hi Will!" the redhead laughed nervously.

"That thing has been here? I forbade you from seeing it ever again. Or did you coincidently forget?" _That thing _obviously meant his demonic Romeo. William looked absolutely furious.

"Why, what's the matter, that you should have such a February face, so full of frost, and of storm and cloudiness?" Grell smiled toothily, but soon found himself being threatened with the business end of William's scythe.  
"Enough of that Shakespeare garbage. Did I or did I not forbid you from seeing that _demon _again?" William growled.  
Grell only nodded in response.  
"And did I or did I not warn you of the consequences of seeing said demon?"

Grell's expression promptly changed from impassive to outright horror.  
"No, Will, please not again! You said you wouldn't!" Grell was on the verge of tears.  
"I lied." William pushed Grell backwards, forcing him to land in a spread-eagled position on the bed.  
"No, please! !"

* * *

Sebastian tilted his head slightly. Something was wrong; he could feel it in his bones.  
"Sebastian! Stop your daydreaming and fetch me some Earl Grey!" Ciel's voice thundered from behind his desk.  
"Yes, my Lord." Sebastian bowed mechanically and left the room. He still couldn't shake off the feeling that something wasn't right.

After Ciel had drank his tea and retired to his room for the night, Sebastian was left to make sure everything was locked up. He could finally act on the feeling that had been bugging him all day.

Sebastian listened carefully. Everyone in the house was sound asleep; Bard's snoring resonating through the entire house.  
He opened a window and perched on the outside windowsill, careful to shut the window behind him. He dove off the windowsill and took off running towards the London Division.

What he saw when he arrived shocked him to his core. Grell lay on the bed, sobbing uncontrollably into his pillow.  
"Grell?" Sebastian approached hesitantly.  
A picture frame was thrown at his head, and a muffled, "Go away." issued from the pillow Grell had buried his head in.  
"Why would I do that? You're obviously distressed."

The shinigami attempted to sit up, whimpered and lay back down. "You won't love me anymore…"  
"And pray tell why I would do that?"  
Grell sniffled. "Will did it again…"  
Sebastian's calm façade dropped momentarily but was soon recovered. "What possessed him to do such a thing?"  
Grell whined quietly. "He said…that it was punishment…for seeing you."  
Sebastian sighed. "You should rest, Grell."  
The reaper shook his head. "I'm fine...I don't need anything…"  
Sebastian rolled his eyes and sat on the floor next to the bed. "If you sleep, I'll stay."  
Grell whimpered. "You promise?"  
The demon butler nodded. Grell smiled and closed his eyes. Within a few moments, the red reaper was asleep.

* * *

Sebastian played with a lock of the shinigami's hair and mulled over what Grell had said. The reaper whined in his sleep and rolled over, producing another whimper. The demon stood up quietly, hoping not to disturb Grell, and snuck out of the door.

* * *

William was writing out a report when Sebastian burst into the room.  
"What in the nine circles of Hell were you thinking, Spears?" Sebastian snarled.  
William set down his pen and pushed his glasses up his nose. "I have no idea what you are talking about, _demon_."  
Sebastian slammed his hands on the desk. "Have you even seen what you've done to Grell?"  
At the mention of the effeminate shinigami, William's expression darkened. "What did he tell you?"  
"Everything." Sebastian's eyes narrowed.

William's scythe appeared in his hands. "I told him, 'No-one must know.'." The brunette flew at Sebastian, who neatly back-flipped and landed on top of a bookcase. Sebastian rifled through his pockets, the image of a set of knives laid on the kitchen table flashed through his mind. _'Damn. The one day I forget my knives, this happens.'_

* * *

Grell whimpered and tossed around on the bed, searching for the warmth that was his beloved Sebastian. Flashbacks of that night passed through his mind.  
_'Do you think he really loves you? Ha, demons can't love.'_  
_'You're nothing but a toy to him.'_  
_'He'll leave you one day and never look back.'_

* * *

Sebastian was thrown backwards into the bookcase. Both men were bleeding from various places, but Sebastian was slightly worse off. The impact into the bookcase had broken his right forearm. Sebastian ground his teeth together in an effort not to cry out.  
William laughed, "You think you can win, demon? You're pathetic."  
The shinigami walked over and stood on Sebastian's arm, placing all his weight onto the broken bone. Sebastian howled in agony while William laughed.  
"You're weak, demon. Waiting for one soul has sapped away at your strength." William chuckled darkly and turned his back to the demon. Sebastian attempted to crawl towards the door, but his hand was promptly pinned to the floor by William's scythe.  
"Where do you think you're going?" The bespectacled man asked as he twisted the scythe, causing the wound to tear and bleed heavily. "Back to that whore you call Grell?"

William's slanderous comment sent Sebastian off the deep end. He snarled and tore the scythe out of his hand, ignoring the pain. He threw the scythe at William's stomach with enough force to pin him to the opposite wall. The shinigami's expression was one of shock as his blood seeped through his pristine white shirt. Sebastian turned on his heel and staggered out of the office, careful to lock the door behind him.

* * *

Sebastian stumbled through the door to Grell's room just as his legs gave out. He dragged himself along the carpet to where he had been sat before. _'I'd better clean these bloodstains out of the carpet before Grell wakes up…although he does like red an awful lot.'  
__  
_The aforementioned reaper yawned and slowly blinked awake. He turned to look at Sebastian. "Sebby? You're covered in blood!"  
Sebastian pretended that he hadn't noticed. "Am I?" He looked himself over. "Hm, so I am."

"What happened?" Grell shrieked.  
"William and I had a discussion."

Grell frowned. "Tell the truth, Sebby."  
"Well, 'fight' would be a more accurate term." Sebastian amended.  
"Sebby, you need to get cleaned up." Grell attempted to stand up, yelped in pain and fell onto the floor. "I'm OK."

Sebastian stood up and offered his hand. Grell smiled slightly and used it as leverage to get back up again. The reaper mewled in pain and leant heavily on his Romeo's shoulder. "I'm fine, Sebby."  
Grell limped his way to the bathroom and started running a bath, leaning heavily on the edge of the tub. Sebastian sat on the edge of the bed, awaiting the bath to finish. After a while, Grell appeared at the door, "Your baths done, Sebby." He crossed the room, fell face-first onto the bed and snuggled into his duvet. Sebastian smirked slightly and closed the bathroom door behind him. Grell's eyes grew heavy and he fell into an uneasy sleep.

* * *

'_I'm sure everyone is mispronouncing your name. Its not Sutcliff, its Slutcliff.'_  
_'Everyone leaves you, so will he.'  
'You may think you're pretty, but you aren't. Far from it, Slutcliff.'  
_Grell shot up. He wiped the tears away from his eyes, but more came to take their place. He made to wipe them away again but a gloved hand beat him to it. Sebastian knelt in front of him, minus his jacket and shirt. Grell blushed furiously, _'Holy fuck, he's hot!' _He coughed and attempted to regain his composure. "I thought you were in the bath."  
"I was undressing, then I heard you crying."  
Grell rubbed his eyes furiously. "I wasn't crying! You must be hearing things!"  
Sebastian raised an eyebrow. "Then I suppose tear tracks are the latest shinigami fashion?"  
Grell giggled, "Go back in the bath, Sebby."  
Sebastian inclined his head and limped into the bathroom. Grell lay back down on his bed and his eyes drifted shut.

* * *

'_I'm leaving you, Grell. To be perfectly honest, I never loved you in the first place.' Sebastian turned on his heel and walked away.  
Grell dissolved into tears. "You said you loved me! You swore it!"  
Sebastian chuckled, "Did it never occur to you I might have lied?"_

* * *

"Grell? Grell!" The now-clothed Sebastian shook the reaper's shoulder. Grell yelped and tackled the demon in a bone-crushing hug, forcing them both to fall onto the floor. Grell sobbed into the butler's chest.  
"Well, this is awkward." Ronald stood in the doorway.

Grell blushed furiously. "This isn't what it looks like!"  
"Suuuure, I'll leave you two lovebirds alone." Ronald turned to leave.  
"Actually, Knox, I was hoping you'd have a look at Grell. He appears to have damaged his ribs."

Ronald winced. "William got to you again?"  
Grell's eyes widened. "How did you know..?"

"I'm only next door and you two weren't exactly quiet about it." Ronald rubbed the back of his head. "If you would lie on the bed, Doctor Knox shall examine you."  
Grell looked at Sebastian. "Would you help me?"  
Sebastian nodded. Grell grabbed his right arm and tried to stand up. Sebastian hissed quietly but Grell still heard it.  
"Sebby? What's wrong?"

Said demon shook his head. "Its just a little scratch. I'm fine."  
"If its just a little scratch, then you won't mind me having a look then."  
Before Sebastian could react, Grell had unbuttoned his cuff and rolled the shirt sleeve up past his elbow. "Sebby, that's not a scratch. You've broken your bloody arm!"  
Ronald piped up from the doorway. "I'll take a look at him after we've sorted your ribs out."

Sebastian and Ronald helped the injured reaper to lie on the bed. "Mr Sutcliff, I'm afraid this is going to hurt."  
"Its _Miss _Sutcliff." Grell protested weakly.  
"Mmhm." Ronald started his examination. His so-called 'patient' bit his lip in an attempt not to scream.  
Sebastian watched from the sofa. He wasn't that experienced in dealing with broken bones; minor cuts and bruises were more his forte.

"Sebby…make it stop…" Grell mewled painfully. Darkness pooled at the edges of his vision, but he refused to succumb to unconsciousness. Part of him was still afraid that his earlier dream was going to come true.  
_Did it never occur to you I might have lied?  
_Grell shook his head, but doing so caused his vision to swim. His last thoughts before the darkness overtook him were of Sebastian.

* * *

Ronald stood up and pushed some stray hair out of his eyes. He'd used almost all of this floor's medical supplies on his superior but there was still that Phantomhive butler to deal with.  
"Right Mr Sebastian, if I could see your arm?"  
The blonde was anxious at being so close to a demon. He'd seen what Sebastian had done to Grell that night in the alleyway and he knew that animals were more likely to attack when they were injured.  
"Honestly, Mr Knox, I'm not going to hurt you. You needn't be so afraid."  
Ronald gulped and began to reset the demon's arm.

Grell slowly blinked awake. Someone had removed his glasses whilst he'd been unconscious but he could still make out the blurred form of Sebastian. The shinigami stretched out a hand and fumbled around for his glasses. Once he'd found them and put them on, he could see that Sebastian was sat on the sofa William had bought him when they had first graduated from the Academy, reading one of the novels he had lying around, his right arm tightly bound.  
"So you're awake now. I thought you'd never wake up." Sebastian didn't look up from his book as he spoke.

Grell smiled slightly, though his mind was still swimming with doubt. "I didn't know you liked romance novels."

"I didn't know reapers were so poorly trained in hiding their emotions. Is it not one of your rules?"

The reaper on the bed was taken aback. "W-what do you mean?"  
Sebastian closed his book slowly. "The doubt you are feeling is so evident; it has pervaded your every action. It is nigh on palpable in the air around you. I won't pretend to ignore what has caused you to become like this, but I would like to you to know that whatever Spears has told is a complete and utter lie. You're stuck with me, I'm afraid."

Grell blinked slowly, taking in everything that Sebastian had said.  
"So, you're not going to leave..?" He trailed off, afraid of what the demon's answer would be.

"As long as you don't give me cause to do so."

The reaper smiled, his vision swimming with unshed tears. Said tears began to trail slowly down his face, but Grell did nothing to wipe them away. Sebastian moved from his position on the sofa to sit on the bed, allowing the reaper to bury his face into his chest. They stayed like that for some time, unmoving, silently promising the other they would always be there for them.

* * *

**That's it, people, _Bruise _is officially finished. I'd recommend these songs while reading this:**

_**I Won't Tell You ~ **_**Lacuna Coil {Because this final chapter deals with Grell struggling to tell Sebastian about his doubts.}  
_See Who I Am ~ _Within Temptation {The fight between Will and Sebast}  
_All I Need ~ _Within Temptation {The ending} _'All my agony fades away, when you hold me in your embrace~' ? _There isn't a better song.**


End file.
